A very large part of my study of Japanese came from my love for Japanese movies and dramas, with its wide range from the silly to the poignant. Sadly, many of these movies are hard to access when I was in the US and are only released in Japan or selected theaters. Fortunately, I had the chance to watch the live action movie Gintama during my stay in Japan. The movie is about a world where aliens have invaded Japan and declared the age of samurai to be over. It follows a ex-samurai named Gintoki (the silver hair one) and his various everyday shenanigans.
The movie theater we went to was Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku. It was a high-rise building with a giant Godzilla statue towering over it. For the most part, it was the same as going to the movies in US. However, there were a few differences that made it an interesting experience. For example, there were areas in the lobby where the movie goer could buy merchandise that features characters or something from the movie. I got some Gintama postcards after watching it that I’m super excited about. When we were watching the trailers, there were some American movies such as Spider-Man and Star Wars featured, but the voices were dubbed in Japanese which took some getting used to. Before the movie began, there was a reminder for people to turn off their cell phones, to not talk during the movies, and for some reason, to not kick the seats. Of course people at the movie theater in the US are generally quiet during the movies, but there was a noticeable difference in the level of quietness in the Japanese theater.
The entire movie was in Japanese with no subtitles, and I was happy to have been able to follow most of what was happening or said. The movie was hilarious and really well-done, and it was neat to be able to understand a joke or the punchline in another language.